Guests
I’m inviting readers with, perhaps, different views to my own and who are involved with other organisations to post on this blog. Their articles will be unedited, except for libel and profanity and, most important, will be open for comment. Please be VERY aware that the views in these articles are not necessarily mine or those of the Conservative Party.
September 2009: by Wirral resident Philly Morris of checkemlads – the testicular cancer awareness site:
Checkemlads.com was put across the web in October 2003 when I was treated for testicular cancer and found there was none or very little support and awareness aimed at young men in the UK. While I was having chemotherapy I found there was no one to talk to and knew very little about the cancer which made my episode with cancer worse. Meeting my drumming idol Steve White from the Paul Weller Band, the Style Council and The Who, I decided to start a website to raise awareness and offer support.
Now, we are a charity that supports young men with testicular cancer and their families, friends and partners. Checkemlads.com testicular cancer support and awareness also helps soldiers and gives awareness talks to the British Army through Staff Sargent Mick Riley, also from Wirral and another testicular cancer survivor . Checkemlads.com is proud to say that Mick has been given an MBE for his efforts.
The website has had over 3 million hits and has been on Sky TV, BBC, Talksport. We’ve also has been backed by the Welsh FA to bring awareness to young men through football after the recent news of welsh footballer John Hartson was diagnosed with testicular cancer.
With no funding, we have still managed to make the checkemlads.com website and charity the most well known testicular cancer on the net. We are proud of the work we have done helping people and we have proven that it does not take sacks of money to help people.
Checkemlads also managed to get five survivors to strip naked in Cosmopolitan magazine to raise awareness. Please visit our website checkemlads.com online now to learn about this cancer which mainly effects young men, aged from 15 to 35.
Contact me on philly@checkemlads.com for more information. I was proud to meet Conservative MP John Baron to talk about testicular cancer, when all emails to the current Labour government were ignored. checkemlads.com is being given support from people such as footballers Theo Walcott, Cesc Fabrigas and actor Rickey Whittle to name but a few.
February 2009: To start off the Guest Blogging page, I’m really pleased to have a piece written by Anne, at the Wirral Churches’ Ark Project:
I have the privilege of being the CEO at The Ark; no, not the animals in two by two, but the homeless charity based in Birkenhead. We have been in this building for nearly eight years, and in the area for seventeen trying the best way we can to help those who have fallen on hard times; sometimes by their own hand, but increasingly through no fault of their own.
Homeslessness knows no social boundaries and the catastrophic effects both mentally and physically are felt as hard whether you come from a smart house in an upmarket area, or from a tiny flat in an area of huge social deprivation. Our task, in the words of the song, is to dust them off, pick them back up and start all over again.
As well as seeking to remedy health issues, correct benefits, link up with other agencies and try to rectify the causes of these folk coming to our door, by far the greatest work we do is in restoring self worth and esteem and giving people back the future they thought was lost, albeit often with slight changes of course.
This week is typical when on Monday the hostel was pervaded with the smell of cooking as a group cooked the evening meal for the whole hostel. On Tuesday the literacy group met and after listening to parts of ‘The Kite Runner’, being read by the leader, a lively discussion ensued on what they had heard. On Wednesday the smell changed to aromatherapy as tired and stressed residents enjoyed alternative therapies, followed by a maths class, and today the hostel sounded like a jungle as a drumming group met and lost themselves in the beat of the music. These activities are fun, but all have an educational element to them even if it is just re-learning social skills.. This is with the backdrop of meetings with support staff, other agencies and other formal procedures that are a necessary part of reinventing themselves.
We are always happy to have visitors; come down and see us, have a cup of tea and look around. We have a very comprehensive and up to date website www.wirralark.org.uk where you will find out all sorts of information including details of fundraising events, how you could help us continue the work here, and volunteering opportunities. Come and join us, it’s not always easy, but it’s always interesting and the steps forward in damaged lives that are witnessed make it very worthwhile.
If anyone would like to have a chat, please call me on 0151 650 6858.
Anne O’Marah
